Advertisement
As noted above, test your cables regularly to be sure that they are in
proper working order.
Setting the Gain
Microphone Input Mode
As with any piece of audio equipment, setting and maintaining proper
signal levels are critical to obtaining optimum performance: if the level
is too low, you sacrifice noise performance; if too high, you risk overload
distortion. The AEA RPQ500 provides an easy method for setting and
monitoring the system gain.
The Input Gain control (ref. #10) provides from about +7 dB to +56 dB
of gain for the preamplifier input stage. The Output Gain control (ref.
#11) adds another +19 dB of output gain, following the CurveShaper
TM
circuitry, for a total of +75 dB of gain. At any gain setting, the balanced
line driver adds another +6 dB to the final output for a total of +81 dB of
gain available.
The LED level indicators (ref. #1) monitor the signal level at a point in
the signal path just prior to the input of the balanced output driver. The
green LED comes on in the presence of low-level signal; the red LED
turns-on when you are approaching signal overload or "clipping." The
yellow LED varies in brightness between the two to indicate the general
signal level.
Start with the Output Gain control (ref. #11) fully clockwise and the
Input Gain control (ref. #10) fully counterclockwise. Then, with the
microphone in position increase the Input Gain until the red LED turns
on when the soundsource is at its loudest. If the LED is illuminated too
often or too long, reduce the Input Gain control one step at a time until
the red LED illuminates only briefly at the loudest peaks. Once this
setting has been determined, reduce the Output Gain control to the one
o'clock position. This will provide you with a little extra headroom for
an optimum setting of the gain of the microphone preamplifier.
Note, however, that if you subsequently apply HF boost, you may need to
Advertisement
